It appears Jerry Manuel and Omar Minaya have differing opinions on the state of the Mets' starting pitching after Johan Santana.

Before the Mets opened a three-game series against the Washington Nationals at Citi Field, Manuel, the blunt-talking manager, reiterated what he said after Thursday's loss in St. Louis -- that he is willing to give his starting pitchers one more turn through the rotation and if there isn't some sign of improvement, then changes have to be made.

Manuel, who laughed when a questioner suggested Mets fans are ready to "jump off a bridge,'' said that while it is too early to be thinking about doing that, it isn't too early to be concerned about the 7.62 ERA the four starters not named Johan Santana have combined for.

"I'm at the bridge,'' Manuel said with a laugh. "I ain't jumping, I'm not thinking it about it yet, but I'm at the bridge. If I'm at the bridge, I'm taking some folks with me. And so that's kind of how I feel about it - I've got to see a little better than what I'm seeing. I've gotta say, 'Hey fellas, we're going to have to do some jumping here - with a life vest, or whatever you gonna take witcha, we got to do something.''

But Minaya, the Mets' GM, refused to back up Manuel's assertion that change needs to come quickly.

"Did Jerry just say that today?" Minaya asked.

Told Manuel said the same thing after the 12-8 loss in St. Louis Thursday, Minaya said, "Like anything else, me and Jerry will talk about things, but what me and Jerry communicate is probably going to stay between me and Jerry.''

Asked if he was more confident in the pitchers than Manuel was, Minaya did some dancing.

"If you say that Jerry doesn't sound confident, I wouldn't say that,'' Minaya said. "I think Jerry feels that the guys that we have, are, given the opportunity to pitch are going to be fine.''

Really?

"We are still, for the most part, going to be somewhat patient,'' Manuel said. "So that means that, at least another turn through. And obviously, during that period, we're looking for, obviously, some improvement. It might not manifest itself in wins and losses, but it could manifest itself in stuff, location, executing pitches and those types of things. So we'll be looking very, very closely to see if there needs to be changes in that regard.''

That sounds a lot worse than what Minaya tried to make it sound like, doesn't it?

Both men did say it is too early to panic. And Minaya, asked directly whether he is re-thinking his position on offering a contract to Pedro Martinez, who is a free agent, said he is not. At least, not at the moment.

"We are committed to our guys and I think our guys are going to pitch well. And I think, like anything else... when you go through spring training and you've got guys that have history, you've got to allow guys to go out there and perform and when it's all said and done I think they'll perform. We are committed to the guys we have right now."